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Discover Commerce Cloud

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

  • Explain what Commerce Cloud is.
  • Describe Commerce Cloud features.
  • Describe how businesses use Commerce Cloud.
  • Explain the difference between B2B and B2C commerce.
  • Explain how Salesforce D2C Commerce adds value for B2B merchants.

What Is Commerce Cloud?

Commerce Cloud delivers world-class ecommerce solutions to B2B (business to business), B2C (business to consumer) companies, and B2B2C companies, also called direct-to-consumer (D2C). Commerce Cloud is part of the Customer 360 integrated CRM platform that powers the entire suite of Salesforce connected apps.   

Demandware joined Salesforce in 2016 as a B2C commerce product. A few years later, we expanded to B2B after acquiring CloudCraze, a leading ecommerce product for selling to business customers. Now we have a direct-to-consumer product.

With these products, companies are providing an optimal ecommerce experience for their customers and implementing ecommerce strategies at their own pace according to their business needs. Commerce Cloud is now used by hundreds of the world’s top brands and retailers and is leading a revolution in retail and commerce technology.

Check out how PetSmart uses Commerce Cloud to drive its business in this short video.

Boost Your Business with Commerce Cloud

You just learned that Commerce Cloud is for multiple types of commerce businesses. Let’s take a look at the Salesforce products for each.  

What Is Salesforce B2B Commerce?

B2B Commerce powers sites and transactions for some of the world’s largest companies. These businesses sell to other businesses (such as retailers and wholesalers) to support their own sales and transactions. With B2B Commerce, companies can create and customize sites designed for a smaller set of known customers with extremely large, frequent, or recurring orders. For example, a B2B Commerce site makes it easy for wholesalers to place orders and stock up their stores.

B2B Commerce features include:

  • Access to CRM data: Get seamless access to Salesforce CRM data for a complete view of the customer or account.
  • Shopping carts: Accommodate hundreds of items per order.
  • Two-click reorders: Make large, frequent orders fast and easy.
  • Custom storefront themes: Give each account a unique look and feel.
  • Complex shipping functionality: Allow for multiple delivery dates and locations.

The Salesforce B2B Commerce product can drive your B2B business and revenue by increasing customer engagement and making every interaction personalized, seamless, relevant, and connected. B2B Commerce uses real-time customer data to tailor your site to each customer, provide purchasing recommendations, and guide the customer through the ecommerce experience.  

B2B Commerce is built on the Salesforce Lightning Platform. This allows you to combine data from your Salesforce CRM and commerce applications for a complete view of your customers, distributors, and buyers. A full view of the customer makes it easier for you to manage orders and accounts.

What Is Salesforce D2C Commerce?

D2C Commerce, also built on the Customer 360 Platform, helps B2B merchants sell  direct to consumer easily and quickly, even if it’s for the first time. You get the following benefits from D2C Commerce.

  • Fast time to market: Launch new stores quickly with guided setup, low code theming and branding, simplified data import, and shared workflows across clouds.
  • Intelligent experiences: Create personalized shopping experiences with drag and drop storefronts and embedded search.
  • Trusted platform: Grow with single global platform and unified data model for B2B, B2C, Order Management, CMS, Sales, and Service.
  • Partner Ecosystem: Explore a rich ecosystem of AppExchange integrations and systems integration partners to accelerate business.

What Is Salesforce B2C Commerce?

B2C Commerce supports businesses that sell directly to the consumer. It allows merchants to create brands and customize the online retail experience from beginning to end. With more than 3,000 websites in more than 50 countries, B2C Commerce is a major player in the online retail world. B2C Commerce enables brands to customize shopper experiences and offer endless aisles of shoppable items online.  

B2C Commerce features include:

  • Order management: Manage orders post-purchase.
  • Einstein artificial intelligence: Use data to drive revenue.
  • Multiple sites managed in a single place: Save time and maintenance resources.
  • Full customization: Make every interaction count.
  • Integrated ecommerce, marketing, and services: Create a unified customer journey with the Salesforce platform.

The Salesforce B2C Commerce product can drive your B2C business and revenue by enabling you to launch and manage multiple sites (web and mobile) from one customizable platform. B2C Commerce delivers a rich online storefront with the latest shopping cart and checkout functionality, and full customization. It allows you to offer products to your shoppers both online and instore via sell and ship. 

With B2C Commerce, you can create and manage geo-specific sites for different cultures, currencies, and languages. You can integrate your B2C Commerce site(s) with your marketing solutions, such as email and social media, to provide an even more personalized customer experience. 

Ready, Set, Shop

Commerce Cloud provides an end to end experience that shoppers, retailers, and B2B companies want and expect today. If you’re interested in learning more about Salesforce Commerce Cloud, check out the Commerce Cloud Basics or Commerce Cloud Features modules.

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